Matched Pairs
by Beautiful Thief
Summary: They say that every angel has a demon to balance them.


Written for Aomine's birthday and the 30 Day Cheesy Trope Challenge Day 4 - Angel/Demon AU. (Yes, I haven't done Day 3 yet. I'm working on it. Shh.) Special mention to cimberelly for pretty much inspiring most of this. Warnings for awful pickup lines and a masochistic demon Aomine.

The summary makes this sound like a serious fic. It's... really not...

* * *

The first time Ryouta ran into him, he was playing across an ocean.

He'd just been enjoying the flight – of _course_ he could probably just disappear and reappear where he needed to go, but where was the _fun_ in that? You had to find your amusements when you could, Ryouta believed, and a good long flight was always good for that. And if he did get bored, it was easy enough to just vanish.

He was just minding his own business when the demon went hurtling past him.

Well, how could he _not_ take that as a challenge? He was one of the fastest fliers, after all; though he hadn't been going full speed, he _had_ been going quite fast.

Of course, he shouldn't leave the demon alive. After Ryouta proved himself, he'd destroy it and be on his merry way again.

So he'd picked up his speed, one hard flap of his wings, and he can tell the demon's a little bit surprised. But then it _grins_.

(Ryouta firmly believes that this was _the_ exact moment that his existence got turned up on his head)

There's probably some kind of airspeed rule that they're breaking as they hurtle over the vastness of the ocean – they're pretty much neck and neck, to his increasing horror. He suspects the demon can go faster, but _he's_ going to reach his limit soon.

Best end it here, he thinks, and summons his sword.

Later, they'll tell him he was lucky that the demon Aomine Daiki didn't kill him, and instead just disarmed him over the damn ocean so he had to spend a good two hours diving for the sword he'd sent spiralling away in the most beautiful twisting aerial manoeuvre Ryouta had ever seen.

* * *

The second time Aomine had shown up, Ryouta had attempted to blast him with fire on sight.

The only one who came close to being singed was him, and the bastard had laughed the entire time Ryouta had chased him through the trappings of the city skyline.

* * *

It developed into a pattern.

Ryouta was never entirely sure _how_ Aomine knew when and where he was on Earth, but if he spent any significant time there, he'd turn up. He didn't seem to care if Ryouta was in the middle of something, either. Sometimes he'd delight in trying to thwart him, but most of the time he'd just laze around and whine about how boring he was being.

Aomine laughed in the face of protective enchantments designed to keep him out, and loved nothing better than for Ryouta to engage him in a fight, particularly if it was an aerial battle.

"What gives?" he whined one afternoon. He was _tired_; Aomine had appeared just after he'd finished his assignment, and he was starting to get these _looks_. He knew none of them blamed him for not being able to kill Aomine – after all, no one else had managed to do it either, and by all accounts Ryouta had really given it his best time and time again – but sometimes Ryouta swore they thought he was _encouraging_ him.

"Hmm?" Aomine was leaning against the wall, hands jammed into his pockets.

"Why are you following me around? Surely you have something _better_ to do."

Aomine shrugged. "Nah, not really. You're more interesting anyway."

He'd thrown fire at him for that, but it'd only made Aomine laugh as he dodged it; like he'd been waiting the entire time, tensed and ready to react, even though Ryouta _knew_ he'd been relaxed and careless as a cat the moment before.

* * *

(Daiki had actually been asked before why he followed the angel Kise Ryouta around.

Honestly, it _was_ mostly because he was bored. Demons, as a whole, were a rather self-indulgent lot, except when the angels got a bit uppity and made everything all good and boring, so they had to go fuck shit up and make it bearable again. So they usually didn't bother with all the kind of mission-type soul-grabby crap. Actually, Daiki only bothered with it when he was doing it to piss off an angel.

"No, seriously," Kagami had asked in the bar they liked to hang out in. "I swear you're following him around more than you're here, and you're here _all the time_."

He'd shrugged. "He's pretty?"

Kagami had snorted into his drink. "That's never kept you following one around for so long before."

"Eh, he makes things less boring, the way he shrieks. He's a good flier, even if he's not as good as me. And he's funny when he throws fire at me, too." He paused, considering, but then decided, _what the hell_. Maybe Kagami would learn his lesson about getting more than you asked for. "Actually, he got me once last time. Barely. But it was a real turn on."

Kagami choked on his drink, and Daiki laughed.

"You're a freak, Aomine," he said between coughs.

Daiki kicked his leg in retribution. "Am not. I don't get hot for just _any_ angel that chucks fire at me. Do you know how many angels have done that to me? It's a lot. Some of them were really ugly bastards too."

Kagami still looked kind of judgmental. Daiki kicked him again. "It's just when my angel gets me. It's special when he manages to land a hit."

He waved over the bartender, and this time he got a drink too. Then Kagami spoke again.

"Your angel, huh?"

Oops.

"Yes. He's mine now. I saw him first."

Well, not quite. Kise Ryouta had an impressive kill list, actually. All the demons that had seen him before Daiki had were dead now.

That was kind of hot too. Daiki liked that about him.

Kagami snorted. "I don't think you can own an angel."

"Is that a challenge I hear?" Daiki leered at him. "Just watch me, I'll make him mine."

Kagami just shook his head at him, but Daiki paid him no mind.)

* * *

He was perched on a roof in the middle of a particularly annoying guardian assignment next time Aomine had shown up.

Usually his guardian assignments these days were annoying because Aomine delighted in tempting his charges away from their paths and just generally making Ryouta's life hard. Guardian assignments were usually simple, and he didn't get many of them. Usually he was just covering for angels that had been injured on assignment, and would be back soon, so having to explain to those angels why their charges had gone _backwards_ was embarrassing.

"Not now," he groaned. "Please, not now."

Aomine looked too pleased with himself for extracting such a reaction just by _existing_. Ryouta decided that he needed to learn how to keep his mouth shut.

He flopped down next to Ryouta. "Did you miss me that much, babe?"

Ryouta let out probably the most undignified squawking noise in his life. "_Excuse me_?"

Aomine grinned at him.

"Why," Ryouta muttered, returning to watching his charge. "Why did the one demon I can't manage to kill have to attach itself to me? Why did that demon have to be the most annoying one in creation? What did I ever do to deserve this?"

"Babe," Aomine said again, "you say the sweetest things to me."

Ryouta glanced at him, unimpressed.

"Come on," Aomine murmured, reaching for his hair. Ryouta smacked his hand away. "Come on, this is boring, I know you think it's boring too. Let's have some fun. You can throw some fire at me and we'll race around a bit."

"Some of us have more important things to do."

Aomine cast a quick, disbelieving glance at the boy Ryouta had been watching over, and snorted. "Doing me is way more important than that kid."

"_What?_"

"What?" Aomine was grinning at him.

Ryouta paused. "...I am not doing this. This is not happening to me."

Aomine shifted closer. "Come on. You know you wanna."

One horrified look later, Aomine was falling off the roof.

(Daiki wasn't entirely sure what had gone wrong.)

* * *

"Do you know what that _Ahomine _did?"

Resolutely, the blue-haired angel ignored him, and Ryouta continued. "He... _he_...!"

"Kise-kun," Kuroko interrupted him, "no one cares what your pet demon did."

"He's _not my pet!_ That is _so_ _gross_, Kurokocchi!"

Kuroko sighed. "You know, if you'd stop making such a fuss every time, I'm sure Aomine would leave you alone."

* * *

Next time, he'd found Ryouta while he was flying through the city.

"We're a pair, you know."

Ryouta had just about cried hearing his voice in his ear. _No, please, no_.

"Shoulder devil, shoulder angel, you know? We always come together. Can we come together?"

He was still flying above him – Ryouta could sense him there.

It was at this point that Ryouta executed his best mimicry of that beautiful twisting movement Aomine had pulled off over the ocean and hit him full in the chest with his fire.

Even as Aomine's surprised face was sent flying away, he called out, "Baby, do that again!"

"Go _away_, you're so _gross_!" Ryouta wailed.

* * *

("Satsuki, it's not working."

She looked at him. "What's not working, Dai-chan?"

"Everyone likes my pickup lines! Why doesn't he like them?"

She stared at him, and he could swear there was pity in her eyes.)

* * *

When Aomine got less interested in messing up his missions, Ryouta got less frustrated with his perpetual presence during his earthly endeavours. He could deal with the pesky demon hanging around and making comments, even if they were inappropriate, as long as he wasn't getting in the way of Ryouta doing his job.

Of course, it was still annoying having the demon follow him around, and he had so many _awful_ pickup lines, a great deal of which still made Ryouta blush right to the roots of his hair. But it wasn't as humiliating as having to explain why all his simple missions had become ridiculously complicated.

And Aomine himself wasn't _actually_ so bad, so long as he wasn't talking about how hot he got when Ryouta inflicted bodily harm upon him. He was occasionally kind of nice to have around. _Occasionally_. It made things less lonely.

Because Aomine no longer appeared to pose a threat to his life, Ryouta returned to the apartment he'd been living in on earth before he'd attracted what he'd assumed, sadly incorrectly, was the demon's ire. Travelling from heaven to earth all the time was tiring, so Ryouta assumed he'd be able to deal with the demon knowing where he resided when spending extended times on earth with the extra energy he'd have by _not_ expending himself to move across dimensions.

...and he did at least put every anti-demon ward he could find on all the entrances to his bedroom first. He was pretty sure that Aomine could get in anyway, but it at least made him _feel_ better.

He'd just curled up on his couch when Aomine made his appearance.

"Are things getting serious, babe? You've brought me home," he whispered into Ryouta's ear.

It was really unfair that this demon had a particularly sinful voice. Honestly, half the time Ryouta almost enjoyed hearing his terrible lines, except then he'd remember what Aomine was asking and want to die on the inside.

He was pretty sure angels weren't supposed to do half the things Aomine suggested. The only thing he was sure he _was_ supposed to do was the bit where he attacked him, and even that was off putting when Aomine seemed to really get off on it when he landed a hit.

"It's too much effort to go back to heaven every time," Ryouta complained, not looking at him. "I'm tired of it. It's all your fault."

Aomine's vaulted himself over the back of the couch and in front of him. "Are you asking me to take responsibility?" He was grinning. Damn, but that face was handsome.

They always did say that evil would be tempting.

"No," Ryouta said, and wrinkled his nose. "Please go away."

* * *

("We totally moved in together," Daiki told Kagami next time he saw him. "Well. He took me home, and he only warded the bedroom, so, we _practically_ moved in together."

Kagami looked like he was judging him harder than he'd ever judged anyone in his life. "You're the most messed up demon I've ever met.")

* * *

"I'm hungry."

Ryouta resisted the urge to throw fire at Aomine, who was sprawled across his couch. He'd just gotten home, and he had absolutely no desire to start yet another fight with him. He just wanted to go and sleep in his bed.

"Then go," he responded. "I don't need to eat."

"But don't you _like_ it? Burgers are just about the best thing on earth," Aomine insisted.

Ryouta shrugged, and walked past him towards his bedroom. "I couldn't say. I've never had one."

"Never—" Aomine was next to him in a flash, and Ryouta wasn't sure if the demon was just that fast or if he'd actually teleported. "_Never had a burger_? I have to rectify this."

"No wonder everyone thinks you're my pet," Ryouta muttered as he was dragged straight back out of his apartment.

"You can give me treats and bellyrubs after and make it official," Aomine said.

They didn't end up getting burgers that time, because Ryouta lost his temper and tried to make Aomine explode in the hallway. Without much room to escape, most of Ryouta's spell hit; Aomine's entire left side was sizzling.

"Baby," Aomine said, wearing the happiest smile Ryouta had ever seen, "that was so hot. Do that again, I think I'll come."

He stared at him for a moment, horrified by the damage he'd done in his completely un-angelic fit of anger, and then burst into frustrated tears before he vanished into his bedroom.

* * *

(Daiki was very puzzled by Kise's reaction.

"...I made my angel cry," he told Kagami.

Kagami looked at him, appraising. "I'm surprised it took you so long. Did you like it?"

Daiki frowned and slumped over the bar. "...No. I think I'm sick. Usually I feel all happy when I make them cry."

Kagami snorted into his drink.)

* * *

("Satsuki," Daiki whined. "Satsuki, help, I'm sick."

She glanced over at him, but her attention didn't leave her notebook. "What are your symptoms? Can I remind you that as a demon you _can't_ actually get sick?"

"I'm not happy that I made my angel cry."

She paused, and then she put down her pen.

"Dai-chan," she said slowly, "just how many times _has_ Kise Ryouta managed to hit you with his angel fire?"

Daiki shrugged. "I dunno, it's mostly just a few grazes here or there. He got me in the chest once, and all over my side just before."

She hummed thoughtfully. "I think you're lovesick, Dai-chan."

He felt his mouth drop open. "What? Love- _lovesick_? That's bullshit! Demons don't _feel_ love!"

Satsuki shrugged and turned back to her notebook. "I think he really got you good, Dai-chan. Angels are dangerous like that."

Daiki stared at her. "...am I going to die? Can you fix it? _Can_ it be fixed?"

She sighed and put her pen down again before turning to look at him. "Don't look so panicked, Dai-chan. You're not going to die, but I don't know if I can fix it. There's not a lot of information about this kind of thing, since most demons aren't strong enough to survive a hit that would be powerful enough to do it."

She stood up, and shuffled through a few of her things. "Here." She chucked a magazine at him. The front cover screamed, _25 Ways To Seduce Men_, and _Making Love Happen!_ She smirked at him. "Or, you know, you can kill him."

Daiki threw the magazine back at her, scowling.)

* * *

(Later, he sent her a text message.

_I'm not sure I could make myself kill him_.

Her response was surprisingly quick. Damn her.

_Well, then I guess you'll have to really make your angel yours._)

* * *

(Daiki was hanging out in Kise's apartment on his couch when the angels Kuroko Tetsuya and Kasamatsu Yukio burst into the apartment. Daiki knew of them both by reputation, and was on his feet in an instant.

"Have you seen Kise?" Kasamatsu asked. They didn't seem too concerned or surprised about the fact that he'd been hanging about in Kise's apartment.

Daiki shook his head, and Kuroko frowned.

"Where is sunshine, anyway?" Daiki asked. "I know he's on earth, but my spell can't find him."

The pair looked at each other, then back at him.

"Well," started Kasamatsu. "We're not sure either."

"We have reason to believe that the demon Haizaki Shougo intercepted him," Kuroko said. "We were hoping that he'd vanished and come back here."

Daiki felt his stomach start dropping, and it didn't stop.)

* * *

He'd really screwed up this time.

Really, he was way too used to feeling a powerful demon _appear_ near him – he hadn't even bothered to check that it was, in fact, _Aomine_ who'd popped by.

But then, no other demons had ever taken any interest in him before, and he knew that a lot of demons preferred not to tangle with either Aomine, or with Ryouta himself, who was clearly at the very least close to being Aomine's equal in power.

He'd turned because the demon hadn't said anything, and usually by then, Aomine would have made some kind of perverse or corny come on, and Haizaki's spell was already flying at him, and his shock had made him just that fraction too late to defend himself.

So now he was here. In Haizaki's lair.

Haizaki had a _reputation_. Lots of rumours suggested he was the kind of demon that got put down; the kind that wanted to throw the world from balance into chaos, and who could maybe one day have the power to do so. A sadistic demon that gloried in the torture and mutilation of angels, leaving them broken if he didn't leave them dead.

Ryouta would have been more careful if he'd known that Haizaki had been marking him, but it was too late for that now, bound and chained, wings probably broken in a few places. He really had been merciless with his first beating, and he'd told him there was more to come.

He wasn't sure what to do. Escaping would take a lot of time and power; his weapon had been left on the rooftop where he'd been captured, and Haizaki had lesser demons to throw in his path until he was drained. He'd be unable to fly if he got out, and the angels had been looking for Haizaki's hideout for months; Ryouta didn't trust that his abduction would have them find it any faster.

It was hard not to panic.

He'd just drifted off into an uneasy slumber when he felt the building shake.

_What..._

The sounds of explosions and burning echoed from above, but it didn't sound like any angel fire that Ryouta had ever encountered. Maybe Haizaki was in a bad mood. He waited, staring at the door, his heart in his throat, as the sounds approached.

When the door burst open, Ryouta's heart _stopped_.

"Oh good," Aomine said. "There you are."

* * *

("I have to rest for a while."

Daiki was sitting on Kise's couch. Honestly, he hadn't expected to see the angel again anytime soon. He'd thought Kise would be confined to heaven for his recovery, especially since a number of the bones in his wings had been cracked or broken.

He looked where Kise had come from his bedroom, and saw he was standing just in front of the doorframe, and was twisting his shirt in his fingers.

"I didn't know you were here," Aomine said.

Kise walked with a slight limp towards the couch, and sat down gingerly. "You're low on power," was all he said. "Also, this is _my apartment_."

"I dunno," Daiki said, "I'm pretty sure it's ours by now. All the food in the fridge is mine."

They were both quiet for a moment.

"Why did you come find me?" Kise asked. His voice was quiet, but in the silence of his apartment, it felt loud.

Daiki looked at him. "Why do you think?"

Kise sighed and leaned back into the pillows of the couch. "Hey, Aominecchi," he started, "have you ever heard about matched pairs?")

* * *

"Hey, babe," Aomine's arms curled around his middle and his lips brushed against Ryouta's ear. "I'm having a party at your ankles. Should I invite your pants down?"

Ryouta turned his head and covered his mouth so Aomine wouldn't see him smile. "Is that really the best you can do?"

Aomine tilted his head. "Well, no, but you've heard all my other ones..." but even as he spoke, something seemed to dawn on him. "Wait."

He grinned.

"I'm too lazy to masturbate, can you do it for me?"

* * *

For those who are curious about the whole 'matched pair' thing, while discussing this particular AU, Crissy and I discussed the idea of, particularly the more powerful angels and demons, having a pair to maintain the universal balance. And basically we decided that your pair couldn't cause any changes to your celestial alignment; meaning that Aomine and things Aomine and Kise do together can't make Kise Fall. Hehe.


End file.
